Author: J.D. Tyler

Kalen’s mate was hugely pregnant. She was radiant, too, and Selene felt a twinge of longing. Forcing her attention from the happy couple, she locked eyes with the other doctor. The woman had a short cap of dark hair, shorter than Selene’s own, and though she was petite, she had a bearing and coolness that suggested anyone who gave her a hassle would be sorry.

“I’m Dr. Melina Mallory,” she said, then indicated the other two. “That’s Dr. Mackenzie Grant and our nurse, Noah Brooks.”

“Hello. I’m—”

“We know who you are,” Dr. Mallory said curtly.

So much for pleasantries.

“We’re going to escort you to the infirmary, where we’ll give you a general physical and then visit with you a bit before we conduct our psychological evaluation.”

“To determine if you’ve got a crazy on your hands.”

“Well, you tried to kill a shifter five times your age and twice your size, so you’ll forgive our caution where your sanity is concerned.”

“Ooh, ouch. I guess this means we can’t be best friends.”

The doctor studied her for a good, long moment, as though she were observing some sort of insect. She didn’t have to say a thing to make Selene feel two feet tall. Then the woman smiled, and the expression on her small, elfin face wasn’t exactly friendly.

“Let’s go get started, shall we?”

The entourage led her out of the cell and down the corridor to a connecting one that took them to the infirmary. Once there, Dr. Mallory conducted most of the physical with Noah assisting. The cute blond nurse was wary of her, moving around her with a watchful eye, not that she could blame him.

She was in top shape, so she wasn’t surprised that she passed with flying colors. It was the rest she wasn’t particularly thrilled about. Noah disappeared, and the other two doctors ushered her into an office. Instead of talking at her across a desk, as she’d expected, they gestured her to a modest seating area with a sofa and a couple of comfortable-looking chairs.

Selene took one end of the sofa, while Dr. Mallory took the other end and Dr. Grant, a chair. She suspected they were doing this so she didn’t feel ganged up on—with the exception of Kalen looming in the corner behind the desk—but couldn’t fathom why they’d care.

“Why are both of you talking to me?” she asked. “Isn’t that unusual?”

“This is an unusual situation,” Dr. Grant told her, shifting to adjust her belly. “Dr. Mallory will be your physician, with me consulting. I’m going to be out on maternity leave soon, so I’d have to hand you over to her anyway.”

“Congratulations, by the way,” she said, surprised at the softness in her own voice.

“Thank you. Do you want children?”

“I’d like them someday. The gods willing.”

Melina smoothly segued into the interview. “Where did you grow up?”

“Clear Springs, Colorado. It’s a small town two hours north of Denver.”

“Any siblings?”

“No.”

“Other family?”

“My uncle, Damien. He’s my father’s brother.”

The women exchanged looks of surprise. Dr. Grant looked to her mate, and he shook his head and shrugged, indicating he hadn’t known, either. Apparently, her father had been quite secretive about all aspects of his past. No surprise there.

Dr. Mallory continued. “Are you close to your uncle?”

“Yes. He raised me after my father took off.”

The doctor’s brows drew together. “Define ‘took off.’”

“Seriously? He murdered my mother and disappeared. Left me to fend for myself and grow up with the scandal he left behind as my legacy. Is that defined enough?”

Dead silence. More exchanged glances before the doctor went on.

“How old were you when this happened?”

“Eleven.”

“Did you witness what your father did?”

She blinked at the doctor. “Excuse me?”

“Did you witness him killing your mother?”

“No,” she admitted. “But I know it’s the truth.”

“How do you know it?”

“Because my uncle said so!” she cried, losing her composure. “Everyone knew it! The whole clan never let me forget it, either!”

“I’m sorry this is so painful to discuss,” Dr. Mallory said with surprising gentleness. “I’m just trying to understand what an eleven-year-old girl saw and heard. What she lived through.”

Swallowing against the burning in her throat, Selene looked away. “She went through hell, but never came out the other side. She was never the same.”

Never.

None of her clan, or anyone she met, knew the real Selene, that she wasn’t such a badass. That she was still just a frightened, devastated girl who’d lost her parents and didn’t understand why. A girl who wanted only to be loved.

Maybe it was a good thing she hadn’t succeeded in taking out her father. Dr. Mallory had stirred up some questions that were already nagging her like a sore tooth.

And she was going to get them answered if it was the last thing she ever did.

Four

Zan met Nick in the conference room.

His wolf was going bananas, and he was having a devil of a time keeping him subdued. As he took a seat next to the commander, he wondered at his luck, or lack thereof, in accidentally mating with the man’s angry, hurting daughter. Zan had been wanting a mate for some time, especially seeing the other guys find happiness one by one, but this wasn’t what he had in mind. The circumstances were less than ideal. And right now, he didn’t really like her that much, either.

His wolf didn’t care. His need to get to his mate, to protect her, was almost overwhelming.

Taking a deep breath, Zan turned to look Nick in the eye. “Is her accusation true? Did you kill her mother?”

Nick looked hurt, but the emotion was quickly masked. “Not in the way she means.”

“An accident?”

“In that it wasn’t supposed to happen, yes.” Staring at the table, he was silent for a long moment before he raised his head again. “You know I don’t believe in interfering with the future I see in my visions. I try never to influence people to change the outcome, no matter how horrible the event that’s coming.”

“Yeah. I always wondered about that. It has to do with Selene?”

“And her mother,” the commander said softly. “I tried to screw fate, and her mother paid the price.”

Oh, shit. “Not just her mother—you and your daughter also.”

“All of us. I didn’t know what would happen, what my actions would set in motion,” he said. Zan had never seen the man show so much raw pain.

“So tell her. She’s operating under a terrible misconception.”

“I’ll tell her the truth, but not yet. It’s a hard thing for someone to believe something all their life and then find out they were fed lies. That the person they hate isn’t exactly what they thought. She needs time to get to know me, to come to her own conclusions.”

“That might make it easier for her to swallow,” he agreed. “If she stays at the compound for a while, she’ll begin to understand on her own that what she thought was true, isn’t.”

“And then, hopefully, she’ll come to me, ready to listen. She won’t believe anything I say until then.”

“What really happened, Nick? What did you do that cost your mate her life?”

His expression was bleak. “Selene deserves to hear the story first. I hope you understand.”

“Of course.” Hesitating, he tried to quell his nerves at his next question. “I have to ask. . . . Do you have a problem with me being practically related to you?”

That earned him a small smile. “Zan, I can’t think of anyone I’d be prouder to have as a son-in-law. Assuming this mating works out, I’m happy for you.”

Relief swamped him, and he blew out a breath. “Thank you. I won’t let you or Selene down. Not if I can help it.” Holy crap, did I just say that?

“I know you won’t.”

Just then, Ryon Hunter walked into the room with his mate, Daria Bradford. The man guided her to a chair and held it out for her as she got seated, then took his own place. Zan greeted them both, wondering why they were there, until Mac and Kalen escorted Selene through the door. Then he had a pretty good idea what was going on.

Ryon and Daria took seats opposite Nick and Zan. As Mac and Kalen left, Selene hesitated uncertainly for a moment, and Zan was struck by an image of her being alone like that all her life. On the fringes, never certain where she fit in.

“You can sit over here by me, if you’d like,” he offered.

Surprise flitted across her features, and then she took the empty spot beside him. “Thank you.”

He gave her a smile, and again she appeared a bit taken aback. Though her sitting next to him would make it harder for him to read her lips while paying attention to everyone else, he preferred having her close. She was tense as a bowstring, but when he touched her knee in reassurance, he felt her relax. Even though he knew it was the mate bond, a purely natural thing for mates to gravitate toward each other, it was still nice.

To his right, Nick began the meeting. Zan noted once again that his hearing was improving, because he actually heard what his commander was saying—distantly, but still.

“Ryon and Daria are here because they have a couple of questions for Selene.”

“Yeah,” Ryon snarled. “Like why the fuck she tried to kill my mate!”

Every muscle in Zan’s body coiled, ready to spring on Ryon’s ass if he made one move toward Selene. Fortunately, Daria soothed her mate, taking his hand and interrupting him to address the other woman directly.

“I’ve done some thinking, and I don’t believe you intended to harm me. We just want to know why you pushed me into the ravine that day.”

Selene cleared her throat. “I didn’t mean to hurt you, and for that I’m terribly sorry.” She ignored Ryon’s growl and went on. “That morning, I heard the creature that I had been avoiding since I came to the Shoshone. The thing had the most awful roar, like something out of a black-and-white horror movie.”

“I remember.” Daria shuddered, rubbing her arms.

“I’d had a couple of near misses with the beast, and I knew he was on the move again.”

“Did you know he’d been murdering hikers?” Nick asked, interrupting.

“No. If I had, I would’ve reported something. As it was, I never even actually saw it, other than a brief glimpse of the outline it made as it went past. The beast was almost invisible, but not quite. Like looking through distorted glass.”

“Like the creature in the Predator movie.”

“Exactly. I didn’t know what sort of creature it could be, but I was afraid of it. Anyway, that morning, I was hunting for breakfast in wolf form when I saw the beast’s shadow moving through the forest. I decided to follow him, and he led me toward a stand of trees where there was sort of a clearing. And in that clearing was a woman examining the remains of a human. Of course, that woman was you.”

Ryon’s face paled. “You’re saying he was hunting Daria?”

“No. I knew in my gut he was returning to his kill, and the woman who’d found the remains was just unlucky enough to be in his path when he came back.”

“God,” Daria said, eyes wide. “You ran right past him, didn’t you? You scared me off, made me run so he wouldn’t slaughter me, too.”

“I did, and he followed us.” Selene’s jaw clenched. “He was closing in, and so I pushed you over the side to get you out of his sight. Then I ran back and engaged him in a . . . small skirmish.”